Archive for April 2017

Earth Day Activities for kids

April 20, 2017

This Saturday is Earth Day, which is of course just a reminder of how we should be caring for our Earth every day! If you are looking for fun ideas to celebrate with your kiddos I've rounded up some of our favorites! Last year with we had a big picnic with crafts and a nature walk, which you can read all about here.

1. Decorate flower pots, and then plant something. We went with flowers last year but this year I'm thinking I'll have Jacob plant some herbs that I can hopefully later use in the kitchen!



2. Make a bird feeder. Last year we went the pinecone, peanut butter, birdseed route, but I'm loving this one made out of an old milk carton.

3. Read a book. Our Tree Named Steve is one of my favorites, but you can find a whole list here.

4. Create watercolor art. All this takes is blue and green markers and a coffee filter. It turns out with a gorgeous watercolor effect every time!

5. Decorate an Earth Day crown. Cut to look like grass, your little one can add bug and flower stickers to make it all their own!

6. Bake some cookies. How fun are these cookies made with blue and green dough to look like the Earth?

7. Participate in a local clean up. Near us they always do beach clean ups, but parks hold them too!

8. Play this trash pick up game, which lets your little one practice the alphabet too! Print out the free trash can cards, wad them up and then let your little ones pick up the trash and practice saying their letters!

9. Re-use old crayons to make new ones! I can't be the only one with a million extra crayons lying around right? I love this blue and green version made to look like the Earth.

10. Visit your recycling plant. See first hand where our recycling goes once it leaves our bins!

And don't forget, EVERY DAY is Earth Day!!

Here's the link to my Earth Day pinterest board!


Easter 2017

April 18, 2017

Happy Easter Friends! Jacob was up at the crack of dawn as usual, which gave us plenty of time for our traditional bunny cinnamon rolls before church. These always turn out so cute. I just take half of the rolls from the can, unroll them and cut them in half. Then I fold each half into a U shape and pinch them onto the top of a roll to make ears. They fluff up a bit in the oven, and are so yummy with lots of sweet icing spread on top.



Sometime in between breakfast and his Easter basket there was a scraped toe while helping to walk the dogs and a colossal meltdown. If you look close you can see the hole in his cute PJs. Thankfully a bandaid and an Easter basket were enough distraction to cheer him right up! I absolutely love putting together the Easter basket. I generally start right after Valentine's and collect little things here and there that I know he will love. He was especially excited about the beach toys, the kiddie chopsticks, the SING DVD and the chocolate frogs.



Jacob takes his time with his basket, pulling one thing out at a time and looking it over before moving on to the next thing, which I love. He loves pulling apart eggs and seeing what's inside. This year I filled his eggs with fruit snacks and a key chain. He somehow knew immediately that keychains can go on backpacks and started saying "take it to school." I guess we'll have to put it on his little preschool backpack in the fall!




After church Jacob got to visit with the Easter bunny and had everyone in hysterics as he instructed the Easter bunny to smile for the photos.  "Say cheese bunny! Say cheese!" We also got an elusive family photo, which always makes my heart sing.





There were long naps for all after church while the ham cooked in the oven and then it was off to the airport to pick up Nonna. This was my first time hosting Easter dinner and along with the ham we had  Parmesan potatoes, herb roasted carrots, deviled eggs, and then macaroons and salted caramel gelato for dessert. Both the macaroons and the gelato were from Trader Joes, and this definitely won't be the last time we buy them!




That night we opened our last story egg, empty like the tomb and Nonna got to read the Easter Sunday passage to Jacob. Such a special tradition that we'll be using for years to come! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your loved ones!